


The Heart Knows

by NikAdair



Series: You're My Forever Loves [11]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Mutual Pining, akaashi has a hard time understanding feelings, pre bokuakakuroken, so does kenma but he doesn't show it, the start of the akaken part
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:42:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26215831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikAdair/pseuds/NikAdair
Summary: Akaashi was the most logical person out of the Cats and the Owls. He was the one who reasoned with Bokuto and Kuroo when they wanted to do something stupid, or got Kenma to actually take a break from his work and eat and sleep. However, feelings were something he was too new at to be able to be logical at.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Akaashi Keiji/Kozume Kenma
Series: You're My Forever Loves [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1864117
Comments: 4
Kudos: 58





	The Heart Knows

**Author's Note:**

> Day One of AkaKen Week! I chose Mutual Pining for today's prompt, and it really was a hard prompt to write from one side.  
> As a note, this fic takes place between 'Give It a Chance' and 'In Your Clothes' of my BokuAkaKuroKen series.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Feelings, as it turned out, were a much more intricate thing than Akaashi had originally known. But for some reason, the line between platonic and romantic seemed to blur when it came to his friends.

-.-.-

Akaashi, for all the credit given to him for taking care of his friends, was just as bad as they were. He and Kenma were in a call -- had been for most of the night -- and had lost track of time until he was being blinded by a thin line of sunlight streaming in through partially opened curtains.

“The sun’s up,” he’d said, eyes flicking over to Kenma’s video icon in the corner of the screen. He watched Kenma tilt back in his chair, making a noise.

“I guess it is,” Kenma said, coming back into view of the camera. Neither boy moved from where they were, the thought that they should go to bed nonexistent to them.

Akaashi heard shuffling from Kenma’s end of the call, and Kuroo came into view, leaning over Kenma’s shoulder and rubbing his sleep from his eyes. “Kenma, why are you still awake?” he heard him ask, hiding his face in Kenma’s shoulder.

“I’m on a call with Akaashi,” Kenma responded, shaking his shoulder a little to get Kuroo to look up.

“Morning, Kuroo,” Akaashi said, laughing a little at his bed head.

Kuroo waved a little. “Kenma being up until the sun comes up, I can understand, but you Akaashi? Aren’t you supposed to be the smart one out of us?”

Kenma scowled, shoving Kuroo away. “Go back to bed and leave us be.” Something about that statement made Akaashi’s stomach flutter, but he attributed it to him being too tired. As if to punctuate his thought, he yawned, stretching his arms over his head.

“I think I might go to bed, too. I have an evening shift at the bookstore tonight,” he said. Kenma blinked at him but nodded.

“Thanks for being on call with me all night. Sleep well,” Kenma said, his voice sounding just a bit too soft.

Akaashi smiled, ignoring the feeling in his chest. “You too. And please get some sleep.” Kenma nodded, and they ended the call. It was then that he was hit with just how tired he was. He walked to his bed, all but falling into it, and it wasn’t too long after that he fell asleep.

-.-.-

When he woke up, it was just after noon, and his eyes burned a little. He wanted to sleep more, but his phone was going off. It took him a minute to process which ringtone it was, and he smiled when he picked it up.

“Hi Bokuto,” he said sleepily.

“Kaashi, I didn’t wake you, did I? Kuroo texted me saying that you’d gone to bed really late,” Bokuto said, guilt lacing his voice.

Akaashi sat up, rubbing his eyes. “No, you didn’t. I woke up right before you started calling.”

There was a sigh on the other end of the call, and Akaashi chuckled. “I just wanted to make sure you were coming to lunch with us today,” Bokuto said happily. He furrowed his brow.

“Lunch? I thought that was tomorrow,” he said. He put Bokuto on speaker phone, pulling up his calendar.

“It’s definitely today. Kuroo checked with Kenma to make sure.” The mention of Kenma made his heart flutter again, and he bit his lip, eyes scanning his screen. Sure enough, underneath his ‘WORK’ event, he had ‘Lunch with Bo and the Cats’.

He sighed, frustrated with himself. “I’ll definitely be there, Bo. Sorry for forgetting,” he said, putting his phone on the bed.

Bokuto laughed, and Akaashi couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t be. I’ll see you soon?”

“See you soon, Bo.”

-.-.-

Akaashi was the most logical person out of the Cats and the Owls. He was the one who reasoned with Bokuto and Kuroo when they wanted to do something stupid, or got Kenma to actually take a break from his work and eat and sleep. However, feelings were something he was too new at to be able to be logical at.

After ending the call with Bokuto, he laid back down, setting an alarm for half an hour so he had time to get ready for lunch. Staring at the ceiling, he tried to figure out why the mention of Kenma had made his chest flutter. It wasn’t a new feeling, not in the slightest. It was the same feeling he had with Bokuto.

But that was what troubled him. He had feelings for Bokuto -- very evident romantic feelings for him -- but Kenma had started making him feel the same way. He bit his lip, thinking.  _ Was it possible to have feelings for more than one person? _

He picked up his phone, searching ‘having romantic feelings for more than one person’. The first few results were useless in terms of helping him. But a blog post caught his attention, and he tapped on it.

In it, it explained how the writer explained how they’d been very close friends with two people, and after a while, they’d started dating one of them. Things were good, and then they started realizing that they also had romantic feelings for the other and had done some research and found the term ‘polyamorous’ and that it described them perfectly.

Akaashi did a little research on the term, and a feeling of calm settled in his chest. Like the blog post author, the term seemed to describe him and his situation. He didn’t get to think about it much, though. His phone alarm was going on, and he needed to get ready for lunch. He filed it away for later, when he’d have time to think.

-.-.-

Lunch was as uneventful as usual. Not that Akaashi minded. He was still exhausted from having been up all night, and he could tell Kenma was too (though he was hiding it much better than him). Bokuto and Kuroo were content talking with each other, so it worked out.

Though, tired Akaashi wasn’t always aware of what he was doing. He found himself looking (really staring) at Kenma more than he’d meant to, his face flushing every time Kenma caught him looking (staring). It got to the point that he refused to look his direction, keeping his eyes out the window.

Bokuto laced their fingers together, and Akaashi smiled, squeezing his hand. Something tugged at the back of his mind, a sense of guilt, but he pushed it away. These feelings were confusing, and he hadn’t had time to actually think through them. Hadn’t had time to figure out how to talk to Bokuto about them. How to talk to Kenma about them. So he pushed them away for another time.

For now, he focused on the feeling of Bokuto’s hand in his, the warmth coming off of him as he leaned against his shoulder. It didn’t stop his eyes from wandering to Kenma’s reflection in the window.

He saw Kenma looking at him, biting his lip, and it made his face flush. His heart fluttered again, and he closed his eyes, leaning more into Bokuto. He didn’t want to deal with this. These feelings that he hadn’t been able to think about. To sort through and understand. But he knew he couldn’t keep it a secret from him. Kenma. Bokuto. Both of them.

“Hey, Kaashi, we can head back if you’re falling asleep,” Bokuto said, shaking his shoulder a little.

He opened his eyes, focusing on the group. Bokuto and Kuroo were looking at him, worried, and Kenma was looking at him with something in his eyes that he couldn’t figure out. “No, no, sorry, I’m okay,” he said, sitting up and pulling his hands into his lap.

“Are you sure?” Kenma asked, surprising all of them. Akaashi blinked at him, his heart fluttering and his stomach knotting.

“I-I’m sure, really.” He forced a smile, hoping it would be enough, and after a second longer, Bokuto and Kuroo nodded, going back to their conversation.

Akaashi sank back into his chair a little, looking out the window. A foot nudged his own, and his eyes flicked over, seeing Kenma looking at him. His phone buzzed, and Kenma’s name flashed on the screen.

**Kenma** : Are you sure you’re okay?  
**Kenma** : You’re acting weird

He laughed quietly, responding.

**Akaashi** : I’m fine, just thinking  
**Kenma** : Thinking about what?

He bit his lip, not sure how to respond.

**Kenma** : Kaashi?

His heart stuttered again (a feeling he was starting to get annoyed with).

**Akaashi** : Just things. Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing important.

Kenma nudged his foot again, quirking an eyebrow.

**Kenma** : If it was important, you wouldn’t be acting weird  
**Akaashi** : I’ll tell you later

Akaashi froze, unaware that he’d said what he had until it was too late. He didn’t have a choice now. He had to tell Kenma. Had to tell him that he had feelings for him. That he was scared about what that meant, both for their friendship and for his relationship with Bokuto.

Bokuto started laughing, and Akaashi refocused on their conversation. He’d worry about thinking about everything at work. How to tell Kenma. How to tell Bokuto. What would happen next. But for now, he would focus on lunch. On what was in front of him, instead of the confusing whirlwind of thoughts he had.


End file.
